Thursday in Monaco: The adventure

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Deliberate chaos and controversy

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh has suggested some teams want the
qualifying sessions and the race to turn into 'chaos and controversy'. He
said that after Lotus team owner Malaysian Tony Fernandes had vetoed the
two-tier qualification proposal during a FOTA meeting. After the meeting
Fernandes explained why he opposed the split qualifying; "We want the race
to be exciting, we want it to be unpredictable so let qualifying be the
same [as the race] as well." Which prompted Whitmarsh to jump to this
remarkable conclusion: "There are those, and I'm not one of them, who feel
that controversy and stewards' hearings after the event are entertaining. I
don't share that view."

Who says only slower cars can cause havoc...

Photo by xpb.cc.

Remarkable, because that is not what Fernandes had in mind. Fernandes
simply wants equal opportunities for all teams He wants action on the
streets of Monaco, and not a parade of slower drivers who were banned from
Q1, and have to move out of the way for the big guns, and will play no role
whatsoever during qualification or the race. The FIA and FOTA wanted fresh
blood in Formula One, now that they have fresh blood they treat them like
'GP3' teams. One could of course also argue those teams don't care about
the new teams, are not willing to help them, and are only interested in
creating opportunities that favor the top teams.

There should be equal opportunities for all teams during all races this
season. Drivers like Fernando Alonso and Arian Sutil understand that and
have no problems with the slower cars. Alonso: "It will definitely not be
easy, but it's the same for everyone." And indeed, that's what it is, it is
the same for everyone, including the slower teams. We will soon find out if
the new teams will to turn the qualification and race into 'chaos and
controversy'. It could of course be that the top drivers cause havoc and
will turn the race into chaos.

Monaco History

The "Principaut? de Monaco" is the official name of the mini state which is
located in Southern France. Monaco is a constitutional monarchy, the head
of the state is Prince Albert II. It has a surface of just under 2 km2, and
a population of 33,000. Monaco is famous as a tax-paradise, known as the
Las Vegas of Europe, and is the home of famous film and rock stars, and
also the home of many Formula One drivers.

The race on Sunday will be the 57th Grand Prix of Monaco, the most
glamorous and prestigious race on the calendar, a few facts will make it
clear why. A number of drivers won this race multiple times, the "Kings of
Monaco": Ayrton Senna won the race six times (1987, 1989 - 1993), Graham
Hill five times (1963-1965, 1968, 1969),
Michael Schumacher five times (1994, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001), Alain Prost
four times (1984-1986, 1988), Stirling Moss three times (1956, 1960, 1961)
and Jackie Stewart also won the race three times (1966, 1971, 1973).

The first race in 1929 was organized by Anthony Nogh?s under the auspices
of the "Automobile Club de Monaco", and was won by William Grover-Williams
driving a Bugatti. From 1950 onwards the race was part of the official
Formula One championship, the race in 1950 was won by Juan Manuel Fangio in
Alfa Romeo, it took him 3 hours, 13 minutes and 18 seconds to complete the
distance, the last race in 2009 was won by Jenson Button in the Brawn GP
car in 1 hour, 40 minutes and 44 seconds.

The most hectic Grand Prix was in 1982 when it started to rain during the
closing stages of the race. Prost was leading but crashed, then Riccardo
Patrese led but spun at Loews. Didier Pironi took over the lead but ran out
of fuel in the tunnel, Andrea de Cesaris was next to lead the race but also
ran out of fuel. Derek Daly took over the lead the race (without a front
and rear wing which he lost a lap earlier when he had spun), but had to
give up with a faulty gearbox, and finally Riccardo Patrese won the race
after he had managed to restart his car by rolling down the hill. It took
the FIA stewards almost 20 minutes before they figured out that Patrese had
won the race. So, in that respect, the Monaco Grand Prix can sometimes be a
lottery.

Schumacher maintains silence

Also part of history is the race in 2006, when Michael Schumacher parked
his Ferrari in Rascasse during qualifying to prevent Fernando Alonso from
putting a faster time on the clock. He was penalized and had to start the
race from 22nd and last place on the grid. Alonso won the race and
Schumacher worked his way up through the field an finished in 5th position.
His actions are still haunting him and he again had to answer a lot of
nasty questions, especially the British news papers keep reminding him of
the 'parking jibe'.

Schumacher being pushed back to Parc Ferme after he parked his car in Rascasse.

Photo by xpb.cc.

A few headlines: "Four years on and Michael Schumacher still can't say
sorry", "Cheat Schu still won't say sorry", "Schumacher shrugs of parking
jibes" and "Schumacher remains unrepentant". Schumacher has sofar refused
to apologize for the incident and said that reporters who were still asking
about the incident were 'boring'. "Ask as much as you want, but I'm moving
on" the seven-times world champion said.

He got another few nasty questions, like: "Do you have any regrets about
that incident?" And Schumacher answered: "I had great fun in the race, I
came through the field from last and I think I finished fifth. That was
good fun." Fernando Alonso told the media he had already forgotten about
it, and said was just a small incident. The father of Schumacher's team
mate Nico Rosberg at Mercedes, Keke Rosberg, said at the time: "It was the
worst thing I've ever seen in F1. I thought he had grown up. He is a cheap
cheat. He should leave F1 to honest people".

Chaos free Practice sessions

After the first two official Free Practice sessions today, it seems the
worries drivers had about the slower new teams, were unfounded. At times
all 24 cars were on the track and it didn't really prevent drivers from
putting in a fast lap. There were no real incidents between slower and
faster cars, but it must be said that during the first free practice
session Karun Chandhok and Kamui Kobayashi had a closer look at the walls
surrounding the circuit.

When it started to rain during the second session, Jaime Alguersuari had a
big moment when he locked his rear wheels while braking before the chicane,
but didn't hit anything and continued his practice. Felipe Massa had to use
the escape road at Saint Devote when it became even more slippery, but he
also was able to continue his run. There was one incident when Massa slowed
down to get a clear lap, catching Heikki Kovalainen, who was on a fast lap,
by surprise. So the practice sessions in a nutshell: Accidents? No.
Dangerous? No. Chaos? Again no. Incidents? Yes, a few, but nothing serious.